We have been producing cooking videos since 2007 and have created over 3,000 videos for a variety of clients as well as our own award-winning video cooking website, how2heroes. It has been a dream of ours for several years to build our own in-house kitchen studio to produce quality content in a more controlled enviroment with an adjacent photography studio. After extensive planning and a relatively quick contruction phase with the best contractor in the business, CAFCO construction, our studio is now complete and ready to roll. Video content is critical these days for bringing food brands to life, differentiating from the competition and generating ad revenue. Let us help you with your video content strategy!
To experience the process that goes into building out a kitchen studio, here's a timelapse film we created, using over 3,000 photos that were shot over the course of construction:
We opened our doors with a Kitchen Studio launch party last week and hosted Chef Marjorie Druker of New England Soup Factory who we have worked with extensively on cooking videos as well as her restaurant's website which we just completed! Marjorie christened the kitchen and made an incredible Strawberry, Pineapple & Tomato Gazpacho which was the perfect kick-off to the spring season. Also joining us for the evening was cookbook author Michael Natkin, who made a light, delicious Grape & Chevre appetizer from his new book, Herbivoracious. Watch the video to see highlights from the night and the kitchen in action!
Our hopes for the kitchen studio are to continue to produce world-class video content, photography and original recipes for food clients but to kick it up a notch now that we have our own kitchen to create in. We also want to be a source in the community for food education, events and activities. We are located in a fantastic food city (Boston) and neighborhood (Inman Square, Cambridge) and we enjoy being an integral part of it and keeping the community abreast of food trends, new restaurants, great gadgets and food products, farmers' markets, farms, important food issues, etc. We live and breathe food which as a food client, you will appreciate. We promise you.
Need video content or a strategy for producing original content? Contact us!
Last week we had the pleasure of shooting 2 videos for our new client, Vitasoy. They have a new product, Nasoya Pasta Zero Shirataki Noodles, which is a fantastic substitute for regular carb-heavy pasta. It's perfect for those looking to lose weight, diabetics, celiacs (gluten-free!) and those just wanting to eat healthier. With only 4 carbs and 20 calories per serving, even if you double up on your portion, you're still only taking in about half the carbs and calories of regular pasta. Win!
Vitasoy wanted to create 2 videos to help educate consumers about the product. One that introduced consumers to the product and showed how to prep and cook it for a variety of dishes. The second is a simple recipe that demonstrates using the product in a simple Italian dish, Shirataki Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce. Nasoya partnered with blogger and registered dietician Nancy Oliveira from Fit Mama Eats to star in the videos. As a nutritionist, Nancy is always looking for delicious, satisfying suggestions for her clients so Pasta Zero Shirataki Noodles is right up her alley!
The prep, plating and shooting lasted most of the day. We had a tireless team that championed through and Nancy held up really well which can be hard as the day progresses. Thanks to our client, Abby, for her great collaboration and for showing up with a cooler full of product as well as all the ingredients for some beautiful dishes.
The videos will be featured on the Nasoya website as well as on their YouTube channel. Another exciting note is that there will be a QR code on the packaging which consumers can scan to watch the videos. We will let you know on the blog when the videos are live. In the meantime, hope you will give Nasoya Pasta Zero Shirataki Noodles a try. As you can see from these photos, the product is super versatile. Stir fries, soups, traditional pasta dishes. Sky's the limit. You can find the product in various supermarkets in the tofu or dairy section.
SXSW (short for South by Southwest) is the biggest, baddest interactive conference of the year. It's a who's who of panelists and speakers from Twitter founder Biz Stone, to the "inventor of the Internet" Al Gore, from the visionaries from the MIT Media Lab to food star's Tom Colicchio and Anthony Bourdain. Facebook launched here. And it's the place where the next big thing typically launches. It doesn't appear that any one company was the "it" company this year but there was certainly a lot of activity - over 50 talks during some 1-hour time slots. Geolocation and social were the hot topics but did not dominate the conversation. Branding, design, the future of publishing, emerging technology, global issues, health and education were all up for discussion. Something for everyone. There were lines - for everything. But it was exciting and a great chance to get out of your routine and get inspired.
SXSW sprawls from the Austin Convention Center to several area hotels. You can shuttle around or walk which is easier although it was pouring for a couple of the days we were there so packing into the shuttle was the way to go. Chevy was also offering free rides to promote their new line of cars which was very smart. Sponsors who have attended SXSW in the past know that a free ride or a free bite to eat are the ways to engage with SXSW attendees since they're too busy to do anything else but run from one talk to the next and check-in, update their status or tweet along the way, all without tripping over the sidewalk or another person.
My favorite panel was "Entertain or Fail: Brands as the New Publishers." It was a discussion that confirmed something I've believed for quite some time. For brands to stand out in this crowded consumer marketplace we live in, they need to provide added value beyond their product or service to stand out. They need to create content. Rival and how2heroes have been creating video cooking content for food brands for years and it does give those brands the edge to have added value to share with their consumers on their websites, in social media, on YouTube, etc. It was exciting to listen to panelist Allen DeBevoise of Machinima in LA talk about how his company helped revitalize the video game Mortal Combat by producing a live action series.
Some of the sessions I found most interesting were the ones that had nothing to do what I do for a living but at the same time could be applied to it. Actor Jeffrey Tambour's acting workshop was fascinating. He had 2 actors on stage and walked them through a variety of exercises to help them to think and act differently based on their character and the dialogue and showed how even though the dialogue was written for them, they could interpret it in many ways. I also really enjoyed the session on improving your memory. I have a TERRIBLE memory, specifically I forget people's names the second after I meet them. I learned some great tips about associating the person's name with a physical object or a visual associated with the person's appearance and filing that away in my brain for future reference.
One thing to be aware of at SXSW is that things change. Sessions get cancelled, added. You have to be on your toes and on the SXSW app as well as just listening to other people while you wait in line. Events not scheduled but that popped up include Al Gore,and an excellent Twitter event where brands like American Express talked about successful programs they have run on Twitter. Socialize and stay on top of things. It's easy to strike up a conversation as there are many common hot topics like where the heck is the van, which session you get shut out of, the weather (ran the gamut from rain to 80 and sunny), etc.
A late addition to the event (you have to keep checking your SXSW app and keeping your ears open for changes and additions to the schedule) was Cookbook 2.0, a session about the future of the cookbook given by Bruce Shaw and Adam Saomone of Harvard Common Press. It's a tough world out there for cookbook authors right now. Digital downloads with video may need to be part of the picture as the print books, as beautiful as they are, will probably not survive as a stand-alone in the digital age. We can definitely help in this area and we look forward to finding ways to work with Harvard Common Press and other cookbook and food-related content publishers.
I know what you're thinking. What's with all the food photos in your photo gallery? Well, girl's gotta eat. And at the end of the day, you're so wired from all the sensory overload that you may as well go out and enjoy the city. And wow is the food amazing in Austin. Top Chef winner (who we've filmed for how2heroes!), Paul Qui, heads the pack of talented chefs in Austin at Japanese restaurant, Uchiko. When you think Texas, you might think tacos and while there is plenty of good Tex-Mex fair, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Austin is a young, hip, liberal (by Texas standards) city with a cocktail culture (Péché for Absinthe cocktails, Gim & Jam cocktail at Second Bar & Kitchen), excellent restaurants covering a wide variety of cuisines (La Condesa for upscale Tex Mex eats to East Side Showroom - try the Antelope Tartar), lots of food trucks (check 5th & Chips for Fried Pickles!) and hundreds of pedicabs that will pedal you wherever you want to go. Check out the photo gallery above for some eye candy of the eats and drinks.
I definitely recommend SXSW but be prepared. Following are my TOP 10 Tips for SXSW:
1. Try to get a direct flight to Austin. And if you can be careful about planning your connecting flights too close together. If you miss your connecting flight, there won't be another flight you can get on for a long time. Many people connecting in Dallas had to either rent a car and drive from there or fly to San Antonio and drive. You could lose a good 24 hours of time on logistics like this.
2. Book your hotel NOW. I booked several months ahead and still had to stay way out of town in an America's Best Value hotel. Not pretty and you're reliant on the unreliable vans to get back and forth to the convention center. Plan ahead and spend the extra money to get a convenient location. Share with someone if you have to. Just avoid being out in the middle of nowhere.
3. Plan a ride from the airport to Austin. Austin is not a cab-friendly or public transportation friendly city. It's hard to get a ride. I waited in a cab line for an hour at the airport. Austin just isn't used to this volume of people. Once in Austin, if where you're going isn't within walking distance, take a pedicab. I know it seems touristy but there are about 100 of them and they will give you a friendly ride to where you need to go.
4. Give yourself TONS of time to get your badge. I was in line at 7:30 in the morning to get my badge which I got shortly after registration opened at 9 but some people told me they had waited in line for 3 hours the previous day. Hopefully one day they'll get digital with it and we can just use our phones to get into sessions instead of the ugly, old-school lanyard we have to hanging around our necks
5. Research the sessions you want to attend before you arrive at the conference. Have a "b" plan in the same building in case you get closed out of a session and have a plan "b" at the location of your choice if you find out early enough that the session you want to attend is cancelled.
6. Jump ship if you need to. If you're in a session and it's not your cup of tea after all, it's okay to get up and leave. Just do so gracefully. It happens all the time. You're only there a short time. Get out of it what's best for you.
7. Wander. Block out sometime to just walk around. There's so much going on outside. FedEx and the Today's Show had Food Trucks, Google had an innovation tent where you could walk around and see what they're up to, Skype had a huge afternoon party with food and great music. Oh and for the food enthusiasts out there, the holy grail of Whole Foods is located in Austin and within walking distance to the convention center.
8. Eat. Nothing's worse than a cranky conference attendee. Try some restaurants and bars. Great food scene in Austin. Grab a friend or tag along with some other conference attendees and enjoy the city.
9. Network. Don't be afraid to ask people for their contact info. That's one of the main reasons you're there - to network. Bump phones, scan the QR code tattooed on their head, take their old-school paper business card. Whatever works. There's so much drama with long lines, waiting for shuttles, etc. You'll make some lifelong friends going through this experience together.
10. Take notes and lots of pictures. It's acceptable to have devices out at these sessions. Just turn your ringer off. I was pleasantly surprised to not hear people's phones going off so people "got" it. You're going to have such sensory overload that you'll have a hard time remembering everything when you get back. Document it.
Sounds taxing but it's worth it. Immerse yourself in the great energy and brain power that is SXSW. You'll take home knowledge, ideas to share, potential partners you may want to pursue and processes you may want to integrate in your work or personal life. Leave a day or two to process and rest up before returning to your routine. You'll need it.
Any questions about the SXSW experience? Feel free to post a comment below.
